Late in the afternoon of January 21, 1943, units from USA Combat Command B, 1st Armored Division engaged the Battle Group Lueder, 10th Panzer Division in the Ousseltia Valley. As the Americans approached Ousseltia, they found the Germans dug in both north and south of the main road with pickets in the western rocky ground. The US units dug in and then advanced slowly with both artillery and close air support. The support proved ineffective as the German armor decimated an M3/75 and two Lee platoons. By 1430 hours, the Americans had taken control of the western tip of the south ridge and the west center portion of the road. A German combined thrust on the north flank was stalled by three Sherman platoons moving out of the northwest wadi. As dusk fell, two Lee platoons penetrated past the Tiger platoon that was patrolling the south ridge. The Americans continued to secure hills behind the front line on the south ridge while isolating the Germans into a broad pocket. At 1830, the US assaulted the Tiger platoon, disabling the units at a price to the US troops involved. A StuG IIIG group moved west on the main road toward Ousseltia, destroying two US tank destroyers along the way. However, after it entered the town, two Sherman platoons made short work of it, and the battle ended in a major American victory.

This objectives for this skirmish include town, hill and road control in addition to step loss VP’s. The scenario began with the Germans looking strong, as the US Warhawk patrols and OBA did no damage for the first hour, coupled with fog-of-war ending the first six turns early. However, once the US units got into play, the Germans began to lose ground and take losses. While the Tiger unit is formidable, the multiple American armor units allow the flexibility to get past it, and it is not able to catch up and do any real damage. Although the Germans had an edge in the number of officers that are needed for night movement, they simply didn’t have enough units to cover the ground that the Americans could. With over 200 hill hexes in play at one VP each, this gave the Americans a strong edge after nightfall. The Americans ended up with full control of the town, control of the roads on Map 79, 166 hill points to the Germans 35, and step losses of 47 US to 37 German. The total VP count was 223 US to 82 German for a major US victory.